Todd Agnew

Thanks to everyone for your continued support of “Joy Unspeakable” on your local Christian radio station!

Thanks to everyone who responded with questions to blog about. I’ve had a number of people comment on this one song, so I thought it might be time to share the story behind Martyr’s Song.

I have a friend who is a great writer, but he writes books and I write songs. His name is Ted Dekker. You can find more about him at any bookstore or at www.teddekker.com. Anyway, I first found Blink and read it in about 24 hours and went back and bought all the rest. He is probably best known for his Circle Trilogy: Black, Red, and White. Of course, the new book is Green, which makes it not a trilogy, but that’s a discussion for another time. Anyway, I was a big fan, and apparently he had heard my music as well. I was asked if I would be interested in writing a song to go along with a new project of his. So of course, I said yes, and he sent me the manuscript.

As I read, I realized something. My favorite book of his to that point had been one called, When Heaven Weeps. In this book, there is a story within the story, a backstory of one of the characters, which is a book inside the book. Anyway, I read the new manuscript and find that story within a story inside this story as well. Obviously, I was very excited. But as I read through the story, I became discouraged. I realized I could not be the one to write this song. The story is about a priest who is killed and the song is the song of Christ welcoming him home. I did not have the knowledge or the holiness to make a decent attempt. So I told Ted that I loved the story but I would not be able to write the song. He however was quite sure that I was supposed to. I told him I would try but I was pretty sure he would have to get someone else.

I knew that if these words were supposed to be coming from Jesus to one of His beloved children then I would have to start in the Bible. I needed God’s real words. I was looking through Zephaniah and found this in the 14th verse of the third chapter, “Sing aloud, O Daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.” An encouragement from Christ to rejoice, after life is over, after all the work has been done. It seemed perfect.

I was working on some verses and had written a chorus. I wanted the Zephaniah part to be the bridge. Then I sat down with Ted. We talked about a few things, well, a lot of things. But we talked a lot about heaven. I will never forget him talking about life being like a marathon. That each good thing, each time of worship, each move of God, is like a little Gatorade cooler on the side of the road. And many of us get stuck circling the cooler, loving what we’ve been given, when it was never intended to be more than a refresher while we did what God had called us to, which was to run the race. And I remember talking about how every single good thing we have here is just a taste of what is to come. A foretaste, if you will, of glory divine. That heaven has banquets full of the goodness that we have barely tasted here. But as I started playing Ted the pieces of the song I had come up with, he stopped me and said, “Sing O Son of Zion, that’s the chorus. That’s the pinnacle.” So my chorus turned into the 1st verse. There is a picture of heaven being full of colors we’ve never imagined, which I pulled from Ted’s book, Heaven’s Wager. And there’s a line about the beauty God sees in us, which would be from the book Martyr’s Song. Then I started working on a second verse from what we had talked about that day.

The song came together. We recorded it and it was on a CD that came inside the book Martyr’s Song. But by then everyone was talking about the Dekker/Frank Peretti collaboration, House. So most people missed our little project.

The funny thing is, well, there’s two funny things. One is that it may be one of the best songs I’ve ever written, and it’s escaped most people. The second thing is that the book came out in September, and then my grandmother passed away in October. I found myself wondering about the very things we had just written about. It was the first time someone close to me had died. Where was she now? What was she doing? Who cares if her streets are made of gold, I wanted to know who was taking care of her? I had always thought of heaven as a huge worship service. On stage would be David, and Isaiah, and Chris Tomlin, and Darlene Zschech. There would be video screens with the words to each song in every language ever spoken. But when my grandmother died, I didn’t like the picture of her being a blot in a faceless crowd of billions.

A few verses after the verse I used in Zephaniah, it says that God sings over us. I had this picture of God bringing my grandmother to heaven Himself, laying her down on a grassy hill, by a slow river, underneath the same tree I used to swing on in her back yard, in a field full of her favorite flowers. And He said to her, “It’s time to rest now.” And heaven wasn’t her singing worship songs to Him, but her finally understanding how much she is loved, as He sang over her.

Now I’m not saying that’s what heaven will be like. I have no idea. And by the time I do understand, I won’t care. But God showed me a beautiful picture of what it will be like when we finally reside in the fullness of His love and His glory. And He showed me some of it in my own song.

You can find my version of Martyr’s Song on the Better Questions CD. If I were you, I’d read When Heaven Weeps by Ted Dekker, and then maybe insert the song wherever. Thanks.

Todd

Moses sent a group of spies into the land of Canaan. Out of the whole group only two came back saying this was the land God had for them, believing He would provide. The rest of the nation of Israel shook in fear of the inhabitants of the land. Caleb’s faithfulness moved the heart of God.

“But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it,” (Numbers 14:24 ESV).

God fulfills His plan for Israel in His promise to Caleb. I want God to look at me and see a different spirit. I long for Him to look at my life and say, “He has followed me fully.” It’s not that complicated a concept; it doesn’t take much blog space. But it takes a lot of life space. In fact it takes all of it.

Your thoughts?

Todd

“And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord,” (Exodus 14:4 ESV).

Many times we assume that our good days are from God and our difficult days are from the devil. But here in Exodus, as the nation of Israel is leaving Egypt and approaching the Red Sea, God says, promises that He will harden Pharaoh’s heart, which ends in the entire Egyptian army pursuing Israel. The fear and difficulties that follow occur as a result of the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise. But God’s goal is not an easy life for us, but glory for Him. He plans our lives in such a way that we bring the most glory to Him. Sometimes that is a good simple way, but many times it is complicated and difficult. He may even harden someone’s heart against us, which is hard for us, but will result in great glory for Him.

Today I hope I can be willing to walk whatever path brings God the most glory, whatever it may look like for me.

Your thoughts?

Todd

“God spoke to Moses and said to him, ‘I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant” (Exodus 6:2-5 ESV).

God is about to send Moses to share His promise of deliverance but before He does, He lays out why He can be trusted. He makes sure they understand what He has done for them already before He tells them what He will do next.

“Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord” (Ex. 6:6-8 ESV).

After establishing His faithfulness, He makes 7 promises. I will bring you out. I will deliver. I will redeem. I will take you. I will be your God. I will bring you. I will give it to you.

And then we find Israel’s response.

“Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery” (Ex. 6:9 ESV).

The people saw their own condition and that colored their belief in God’s promises. They were overwhelmed by their difficulties and couldn’t hear God’s plan for redemption. God deserved their trusted and met them in their need, but they could not believe.

Today let’s pray that we could take our eyes off our own struggles and look at all He has done for us. Let’s ask that God would grow our faith so we can hear His promises and believe His goodness.

Your thoughts?

Todd

God appears to Moses in a burning bush.  We’ve heard the story a lot.  And then Moses gives God a lot of excuses as to why He shouldn’t choose him. But Father knows best.  In the end, He uses Moses and his brother, Aaron. So God instructs Moses to tell Aaron all the things God has told him, so Aaron can be the spokesman.  But look at what God promises them.

“You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do” (Ex. 4:15 ESV).

God will be with their mouths.  Can you imagine what it would be like for God to be with your mouth?  For Him to control everything you say?  For you to be able to speak with confidence because God is in your words.  What a gift.  And I believe it’s one we still have. God has placed His Spirit inside us; we are His temple.  Let’s pray together today that God will be with our mouths, that every song we sing, every word we speak will be His.

Your thoughts?

Todd

Hey everyone. I was thinking about some things and thought I would come to
you all. If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been trying to write more lately, I
mean, blog more lately. I’m writing the Promises blogs when we have devos,
but when we’re off, I don’t always have a topic so I end up writing the “We
had mashed potatoes for dinner” blogs that I am never a fan of.

Anyway, I thought I would come to you for help. I want you guys to write some
questions you’d like to hear a comment or discussion about. It might be
theology; it might be what’s your favorite candy bar. It might be music
questions, story question, industry questions, personal stuff, the door is
wide open. If you can think of a question, it’s fair game. Now I’m not
promising to answer all the questions, but I’d like to start talking about
what you want to hear about. So let me know when you have an idea.

Todd

Well, I’m really in the day between releasing the record and playing the next show on tour. I just wanted to thank everyone who bought the new record, either on release day or pre-ordered. I really appreciate your support and you being a part of our community. I have enjoyed already hearing from some of you and look forward to more. I’m supposed to tell you to post a review on iTunes or Amazon or something if you want to. Okay, business is out of the way.

So we’re definitely looking forward to heading out to NC, OH, and KY this weekend. The tour has been great and we’re excited about what God is going to continue to do. We’ll get back into promises later this week as our tour devos continue. We’re headed into the life of Moses this week. Please continue to pray for the tour and the record and the lives of everyone involved. We are excited about this next season in ministry whatever it may look like. Hope to see you on the road. Hope to hear from you here.

Todd

Hey everyone, it’s Todd. The new record comes out today. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who prayed us through this process. It was definitely a difficult one. I am looking forward to hearing people’s thoughts and reactions now that the record is finally out. I hope you will share yours, maybe in a comment at the bottom of this blog. If you don’t know much about the record, it’s called NEED and it kind of has three themes running through the record: things we think we need, things we really need, and the strange but beautiful idea that all the things we really need are found in Christ.

First, I would like to thank everyone who has been onto iTunes already this morning. Of course, the first single that has already been available, ‘Joy Unspeakable’, is the most downloaded. But the second is ‘Higher Ground’. That really touched me. It’s been one of my favorites for some time. I also look forward to hearing your thoughts on ‘Give Me Jesus’, another favorite of mine.

Actually I can’t wait to hear what you think of all the songs. Well, what God shows you, how He moves in your heart. That’s why we do this, and I look forward to his move. The other additional iTunes comment is that there are 3 bonus songs on iTunes that are not on the CD for those of you that preordered or bought it in the stores. These songs are available for purchase on iTunes; you don’t have to buy the whole record. ‘The Way of the Cross’ is a personal favorite. It was so hard not to include it on the record. And ‘All The World’ is a bit of the funky side that you may have become used to hearing from me. ‘All That I Have’ wasn’t my favorite bonus track but hopefully some of you will like it. Anyway, I hope to hear from you guys as you experience the new project. Thanks for listening.

Todd

Hey Everyone, October 6th has finally arrived! Todd’s new album “Need” releases in stores today! If you haven’t already pre-ordered the album, I encourage you to pick up a copy for yourself and for a friend. Below are some links to purchase “Need”:

iTunes
Family Christian Stores
Lifeway
MusiChristian.com
Mardel

We would love to hear your feedback on what you think of the album, your favorite song(s), and anything else you’d like to share.

Jenni